Περὶ παιδῶν
Οἱ μὲν παιδὲς ὑμῶν οὐκ εἰσὶν οἱ ὑμέτεροι παῖδες.
Οὗτοι δ’ εἰσὶν υἱοὶ καὶ θυγατρὲς τοῦ βίου ἱμέρου ἑαυτοῦ.
Ἥκουσιν ὑμῖν ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἀφ’ ὑμῶν,
καίπερ μὲν ὄντες σὺν ὑμῖν, εἰσὶ δ’ οὐχ ὑμῶν.
Ὑμῖν μὲν ἔξεστιν παρέχειν αὐτοῖς τὴν ἀγάπην ὑμῶν,
ἀλλὰ δ’ οὐ τὰ νοήματα.
Τὰ γὰρ αὑτῶν νοήματά ἐστιν αὐτοῖς.
Ὑμῖν μὲν ἔξεστι χωρεῖν τὰ αὐτῶν σώματα,
ἀλλὰ δ’ οὐ τὰς ψυχάς.
Αἱ γὰρ αὐτῶν ψυχαὶ οἰκοῦσιν ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τῷ τοῦ αὔριον,
ὃν οὐκ ἔχετ’ εἰσέρχεσθαι, μηδ’ ἐν ὀνείροις.
Ὑμῖν μὲν ἔξεστι πειρᾶσθαι εἶναι ὥσπερ οὕτοι,
ἀλλὰ δ’ οὐκ αὐτοὺς ποιεῖν ὥσπερ ὑμᾶς.
Ὁ γὰρ βίος οὐ παλιμβαίνει οὐτὲ μένει ἐν τῷ χθές.
Ὑμᾶς δ’ ἐστε τόξα ἀφ’ ὧν οἱ παῖδες ὑμῶν βάλλονται ζῶντα ὄντα τοξεύματα.
Ὁ δὲ τοξότης ὁρᾷ τὸν ὑπὲρ ὁδῷ τοῦ ἀπείρου σκόπον,
καὶ ὑμᾶς κάμπτει τῷ ἑαυτοῦ κράτει
ἵνα τὰ ἑαυτοῦ τοξεύματα πέτηται ταχὺ πόρρω τε.
Κάμπτητε τῇ τοῦ τοξότου χειρὶ εἰς ἡδονήν,
Καίπερ μὲν γὰρ ἀγαπῶν τόξευμα πετόμενον,
καὶ δ’ ἀγαπᾷ τόξον ὂν βέβαιον.
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Khalil Gibran On Children
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.